New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
